


to throw a bone

by kansai



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Secret Admirer, Valentine's Day, other student characters too but i don’t wanna spam their tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:29:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23000707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kansai/pseuds/kansai
Summary: valentine’s day is approaching, and a series of odd letters throws felix off of his rhythm.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> it’s not valentines day anymore but yknow. pre-timeskip and may stray a bit from canon because i haven’t picked up fe3h in a while... also sort of au where there isn’t an impending war and everything is ok.
> 
> sorry for any formatting issues and whatnot, i’m posting on mobile lol. also sorry if it’s short, i don’t write much. will try to update asap!!!!!

Valentine’s day at Garreg Mach was a sight to behold. Merchants flocked to the marketplace peddling exotic chocolates from Brigid (which Petra firmly claimed to be a lie upon sampling), and the houses’ classrooms were filled with the more artistic students’ handmade decorations (which Annette pleaded her peers not to accidentally tear down). The halls murmured with rumors of crushes and predictions of who would receive the most gifts when the day arrived. Even the cathedral would fill with those who believed praying for love would solve their woes of being single.

Most students would consider it exciting. Most students would find it romantic. Most took this as an opportunity to profess their feelings to someone they’d had their eye on for some time.

Felix found it all to be a little... tacky. Amongst his friends, and perhaps his house in general, he was certain that he was the least inclined to the frills of romance. He had spent his Valentine’s last year at the otherwise empty training grounds while his peers went on group dates in town, and then later holed himself up in his room and treated himself to an early sleep. He more or less expected to do the exact same thing this year. Outside of occasional teasing from classmates, no one seemed to care much about prying into his love life- not that he didn’t prefer it to stay that way. Likewise, he didn’t believe that anyone harbored any sort of feelings towards him, considering how much he chose to keep to himself. There were but a few days left before it was actually Valentine’s, and Felix was entirely certain that the day would come and go like it did every year.

So one could imagine his surprise when upon returning to his dorm from the day’s lessons, he happened upon a small envelope fluttering down from where it had been haphazardly shoved inside of his door frame.

Felix paused for a moment to look around and found no possible culprit nearby, and then bent to pick it up, closing the door behind him. Felix would never pride himself on having great attention to detail when it came to the arts, but he found himself turning the envelope over and admiring the craftwork that must have gone into making it. Despite the crumpling it had suffered from being put in his door, the envelope itself was covered in small drawn details and featured a golden seal that had to have been handmade. It had no writing on the outside except for his name, written in deep blue in a stylized font. He would never use this word openly, but the envelope was... _cute_. Felix even felt a twinge of guilt upon opening it, the wax seal leaving a small tear in the thick paper.

_ Probably just some invitation to a party _ , he thought to himself.  _ There’s always someone throwing one of those when it gets close to a holiday.  _

Upon reading, he immediately began to think otherwise. The note, actually consisting of two pages covered in writing that could be best described as a nervous scrawl, with many words crossed out and small doodles filling the margins, read the following:

* * *

> _~~To~~ ~~Dear~~ To Felix:_
> 
> _This is probably a really weird letter to get so suddenly! I’m sorry!!! I don’t even know what to write... I was going to add a poem but I don’t know if you like those?_
> 
> _Anyway... I think I like you but ~~you’re really intimidating~~ I’m super shy!!! And I wanted to give you something for Valentine’s, maybe even in person, but... I ~~know~~ heard you don’t like sweets._
> 
> _I kind of don’t want you to know who I am... sorry!! but if you could send a letter back just put it under the potted forget-me-nots in front of the greenhouse!_

And finally, scribbled at the tiny margin at the bottom,

> _ Before noon tomorrow please!! _

* * *

Felix’s first thought was:  _A prank._

And then: _Well_ , _it could be real. But... no. Definitely a_ _prank_ _._ _Sylvain_. _Claude, maybe? No, he’s above this. What on Earth does a forget-me-not look like?_

He mulled it over for what felt like years before realizing that the sun was setting, and he’d made prior plans to meet with some of his house peers for dinner. He took a final glance at the perplexing letter before carefully placing it back into the envelope and putting it into his pocket, making sure the button clasped over it (wouldn’t want it to fall out for someone else to find). Perhaps he would find some answers in the dining hall by wringing Sylvain and Dimitri’s necks, he grimaced to himself as he headed towards the dining hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gang puts their brains together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i never read fics where felix has friends outside of childhood quad squad and it makes me sad so i gave him more friends. This chapter has annette/lysithea for the annette/lysithea gods. And ashe/dedue for the ashedue gods. Also PLEASE forgive me but i haven’t gotten around to ashen wolves yet so they won’t be in this fic!! & of course i’m so sorry for the delay, shit’s crazy rn but i’m sure you are all aware of that already

“No, seriously, what _is_ this?”

“Nothing, buffoon. Give it back.” Felix grimaced. “Who even invited you? Go home.”

Felix had made the mistake of arriving earlier than everybody else, and upon entering the dining hall was met with a smarmy greeting and a hug that he didn’t ask for.

Sylvain laughed. “What, I can’t catch dinner with my good friends?”

“Not your friend,” he replied curtly. “Give that back or I’m drawing my sword. I’m not kidding.”

Sylvain backed away, putting his hands up, Felix’s letter still held in one of them. “Jeez, if it’s that serious.” He allowed Felix to finally snatch it back. “But don’t think you’ve avoided the conversation we’re going to have to have about _that_ ,” he added, pointing to Felix’s pocket as the letter was quickly shoved back in.

“...There’s no way you had enough time to read it.”

“Maybe not all of it, but I’m a fast reader. Plus, I know a love letter when I see one.” Sylvain winked. _Gross._ “Who’s the lucky dame?”

Felix almost found himself giving Sylvain an explanation, before he remembered that it was Sylvain, and it didn’t matter because no matter what he said, his senior would just turn it into more teasing. That, and Felix had noticed some of his aforementioned friends finally arriving, much to his relief.

* * *

“Really, can’t you just leave?” Felix muttered to Sylvain, who had taken up the seat next to him. Seated around them were Annette, Dedue, Ashe, and Lysithea- all people that Felix would actually trust to give him advice, were he not on edge due to a certain someone’s presence.

“Well, if you’re going to be like that.” Before he could process what Sylvain had said, Felix felt a hand whip around his side and pull out the letter. “Everyone, Felix has some exciting news to share with you all.”

Felix quickly grabbed it from his hands and kicked him under the table. Sylvain yelped. “I was _going_ to talk about it, regardless,” he said through gritted teeth. “I found this in my door when I returned from class. I’ve got no ideas as to who could have written it, and I thought that one of you might have a clue.” Felix slid the letter into the middle of the table and leaned back in his seat, arms crossed.

Annette was the first to reach out and grab it. “Oh, how cute!” She read it over a few times, giggling and passing it over to Lysithea. “Whoever wrote this _really_ seems to like you, Felix.”

Felix felt his face redden and hoped that no one noticed. Lysithea pored over the letter, pouting in concentration. “Well, I can tell you that it definitely isn’t a prank from Sylvain. It’s too sincere.”

Sylvain guffawed. “Hey, I would _never_ write a fake love letter. I take love _very seriously_.” Lysithea rolled her eyes, passing the note over to Dedue and Ashe.

“This is... certainly interesting,” Ashe said with a hint of amusement. “I think it’s quite sweet, although it seems a little... hastily written.”

Dedue nodded in agreement. “I believe you should respect their wishes and send a response as soon as you can.”

Felix remained in his position, waiting for someone else to say something. All he found were his peers looking back at him.

“So... any ideas?” Felix asked.

Annette piped up. “I agree with Dedue. I don’t know if just... figuring out who this is is the right thing to do.”

For reasons he couldn’t quite place, this made Felix’s face heat up more. Why did he have to play right into this mysterious person’s hands? He had every right to know who was sending him strange letters. Not knowing made him feel... defenseless. Felix prided himself on keeping control over most of his life, and he wanted to keep it that way- every day was training and studying, nothing more to it. He didn’t have time for things like secret admirers, or love letters, or romance--

Perhaps his friends had noticed something, because Lysithea finally spoke. “Why don’t we try figuring it out a little strategically? Like, go down the list and rule out who it absolutely _couldn’t_ be?” She turned to look at Felix. “It would still be pretty rude if you didn’t respond, though. Don’t be a coward, Felix; having a secret admirer isn’t _that_ stressful.”

Felix sank into his seat. He had felt so sure that someone would recognize the handwriting, or _anything_ , and he would leave dinner with a name and a face, and he would be able to move on with his life. It wasn’t really going according to plan.

“Sure, why not.” he finally groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Okay!” Ashe exclaimed, now seemingly excited about trying to solve the mystery. “Shall we start with our house?”

“Ooh, mine next.” Lysithea added.

Dedue chimed in. “Well, I assume we can all ascertain that it isn’t any of us here.”

“I think we can agree on that,” Sylvain said. “So... Mercedes?”

Annette nearly spat out her drink. “Oh, gross-” she said before catching herself. “I mean... no, it can’t be her. Mercie doesn’t write like that at all. Plus, she’s way older than Felix. Like, _way_ too old. She _definitely_ wouldn’t go for him.”

Ashe followed. “That’s true. ...Ingrid?” he said, almost instantaneously following with “No, it’s not her.”

Felix cringed. “It is absolutely not her.” Ingrid didn’t even like men. “So out of us Blue Lions, that leaves...”

Dedue quickly finished the sentence. “His Highness,” he stated matter-of-factly, “whom it couldn’t be. He doesn’t sound like that at all.”

“Plus, Dimitri’s not artistic at all! Or shy!” Annette added.

Felix was grimacing. “So far, these are all horrifying possibilities.”

Lysithea leaned forward, her eyes squinting in concentration. “Out of the Golden Deer... Hmm, the likeliest person would be Marianne, but she’s been dating Hilda for a few months. So, not her, and not Hilda, either.”

“Plus, I’ve never even so much as made eye contact with either of them,” Felix said.

"Um... Ignatz?” Ashe asked.

Lysithea mulled it over for just a moment. “Mm, nope.”

“Leonie?”

“No, she’d be straightforward.”

“Raphael?”

“I’ve proofread his letters to his sister. Definitely not him.”

“...Lorenz?”

The entire table burst into raucous laughter. Felix buried his face in his hands.

“So that just leaves the Black Eagles, right?” Sylvain asked. “I don’t think that any of us know them all super well, though.”

“Hmm, still worth a try,” Annette pondered. “We have classes with them sometimes, so it’s not too far of a reach.”

Even Dedue had become invested in the conversation and leaned in closer to the rest of the group. “I think it would be wise to rule out Edelgard and Hubert.”

“I agree,” Ashe nodded, and the rest of the table nodded succinctly. “Let’s see... I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Petra. She’s an excellent writer, but she doesn’t write like that. ...Oh, what about Bernadetta?”

The table came to a lull, and Annette rested her head in her hands. “I think the problem with that is that... none of us have really talked to her, have we?”

“I cannot say I have.” Dedue leaned back.

“Neither have I, unfortunately.” Ashe sighed. “Now, I would have my doubts about her being our culprit. I don’t enjoy spreading rumors, but I’ve heard things about her that lead me to think that she’s much too... er, anxious to be writing love letters to anybody.”

“No, it’s true,” Lysithea wrinkled her nose. “Professor Hanneman always asks me to go get her during magic lessons because she’s holed up in her room. I’ve never actually gotten her to come out. By now, she recognizes my voice, so when I try to call her outside, she doesn’t even respond-” Lysithea continued to trail off on a frustrated tangent that Felix could only halfway pay attention to.

* * *

Felix had only seen Bernadetta a few times. The first was on their day of enrollment, but he hadn’t known her name at the time. He only remembered because she had looked especially petrified of the crowd of new students, and he recalled her rushing to find out her dorm assignment and then vanishing. He’d seen her in Hanneman’s lectures a few times, but must have since transferred if she was in Lysithea’s class. The only time he could recall actually talking to her was when they had worked together in a group project on battle tactics, and even that was hardly worth mentioning. The most memorable thing about that was a joke she had cracked, thinking Felix couldn’t hear her, but he couldn’t quite recall what the joke was anymore.

* * *

Lysithea took a moment to refocus. “My point is, if she can’t even bring herself to come to the dining hall for breakfast, or make it to a single one of her classes, there’s no way she has the guts to write a love letter. Especially not to _you_ , Felix. No offense. Someone like her is probably terrified of you.”

He shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. Who else is left?”

Sylvain stretched and cleared his throat. “Well, I guess you could say I’ve gotten pretty close with Dorothea- I’ll be the first to tell you that she’s not the type to share her feelings so easily. At least, not through a Valentine’s Day confession note.”

“Incessantly bugging her isn’t ‘getting close’,” Lysithea rebuked. “But I don’t think you’re her type anyway, Felix.”

Dedue sat up. “So that leaves... Caspar, Ferdinand, Linhardt, Flayn, and Cyril, yes?”

“Oh, Caspar and Linhardt are off the list,” Ashe chuckled. “And Cyril can’t write, but even if someone else wrote for him it wouldn’t sound like that.”

Felix considered the handmade seal on the envelope and cutesy doodles on the margins. “I assume Ferdinand’s out as well.”

“So... Flayn?” Annette smiled.

Realization began to bloom across their faces as the pieces fell into place.

“An anonymous letter from Flayn... of course!” Ashe almost yelped in excitement. “Oh, how sweet!”

“Oh, right. Seteth’s a wet blanket, Flayn wouldn’t want him to find out she has a crush on anybody.” Sylvain hummed.

Lysithea looked pleased. “Well, it looks like the case is closed. Too bad she’s probably getting rejected, right?”

Felix rubbed his temples as his friends’ gazes turned back to him. “I mean, yes, obviously. But...” Despite having figured out his secret admirer’s identity, something still felt off, but he couldn’t quite place it yet. Still, there weren’t any options left on the list of suspects, and Felix realized that he’d gotten a headache while the conversation had gone on. “Ah, whatever. Case closed.”

* * *

The rest of dinner was pleasant enough, but Felix didn’t leave without getting his fair share of teasing about his situation. He left the dining hall alone, still pondering the legitimacy of the conclusion he and his companions had arrived at. Despite all of the clues pointing to Seteth’s younger sister, something didn’t quite seem _right_ about the whole thing. Flayn’s way of speaking was a little too... dated for what the letter had contained. And sure, she might not have wanted Seteth to find out, but she wouldn’t be _that_ shy about it. From the few interactions they had had together, Felix had gathered that Flayn would rather go out of her way to rebel a bit than completely stoop to sneaking about. The situation appeared even more mysterious, frustratingly so, the more he continued to pick it apart.

His train of thought stopped when upon turning the handle to the door to his room, he felt his foot give way a bit on something that had just fallen to the ground. Felix looked down, finding below him a small note written on a torn piece of parchment. He felt a sense of déjà vu as he quickly looked around for anyone that could have possibly slipped it into his door, but none of the students loitering outside seemed particularly suspicious.

Felix let out an exasperated groan as he shut his door behind him, note clenched in his fist. He clumsily lit a candle as quickly as he could, unfolding the note, which he could now see was just ink on paper, contrasting the intricate and thoughtfully crafted letter he had gotten earlier that day. Leaning in and squinting so that he could see the small, neat cursive, Felix read the note, which said:

* * *

> _Felix,_
> 
> _I’ve become aware that you received a letter from someone that I hold very dear to me. I’d like it to be known that you are, under no circumstances, allowed to write a response containing anything cruel or belittling. If you do, I’ll have you know that punishment is in order. Don’t even think about ignoring it, either - I expect a response to be placed at the correct location at the correct time tomorrow. Also, I overheard your little conversation in the dining hall tonight, and I would advise that you put your brain to the test a bit more before jumping to conclusions._
> 
> _Sincerely,_
> 
> _A concerned bystander._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is still a felibern fic i promise i’m not misleading you. Also sorry if the last half of this seemed rushed, i wanted to get this chap out really bad as fast as i could but it ended up being SO! LONG!!! compared to the first one! also, i swear i'll stop apologizing someday but i'm sorry about any poor readability, i'm not really used to ao3's editor and this chapter was extremely dialogue-heavy so i tried to break it up to the best of my ability.


End file.
